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United States Hotel and Israel Green's Tavern was one of
Plattsburgh's earliest buildings. It was built in 1795 at the corner of
Bridge and Green Streets--the site most recently occupied by O'Neils
Packing House. Owned and operated by the affable Israel Green and
his wife, it soon became a popular social centre and even famous as a
place for public gatherings. A summer evening often found Mr. Green
on the porch entertaining friends.
A celebration dinner,
organized by Mr. Henry Delord, in honor of Commodore Thomas Macdonough was
given at Green's Tavern shortly after his naval victory. In
attendance were Macdonough, General Macomb, General Mooers, Col. Woolsey,
and other officers of the Army and Navy. Fifty-three local citizens
attended and underwrote the cost of all 85 dinners, plus cigars and a
variety of beverages. Two gallons of brandy and twenty gallons of
wine, plus cider and porter, were consumed during the evening. Among
the seventeen regular toasts that were drunk, Macdonough proposed a toast
to Captain George Downie of the British flagship Confiance, who was killed
in the battle, and Colonel Woolsey proposed giving extra rum to the
sailors in honor of the event. Music was provided by General
Alexander Macomb's band.
For many years Green's Tavern
and United States Hotel continued to be a favorite stopping place for
prominent citizens in the community--military officers as well as
civilians. In 1817 President Monroe was a guest of the Greens while
the inhabitants of Plattsburgh feted him. Town meetings were held
there for some years, as well as meetings of the Clinton County Medical
Society, founded in 1807, Masonic meetings, and teacher's meetings
somewhat later beginning in 1822. The two -and-a-half story wooden
frame building was a fixture in downtown Plattsburgh until it burned in
1868. |
